Mr Chatfeild-Roberts, who is AA-rated by Citywire for his risk-adjusted performance, co-manages the group's Merlin fund of funds range with colleagues Peter Lawery and Algy Smith Maxwell.

His £125 million Jupiter Merlin Worldwide fund's weighting in Japan has risen from eight per cent at the start of the year to 25 per cent and he has recently upped his exposure to the JF Japan Alpha Plus fund, which is managed by London-based Jonathan Dobson.

He also owns substantial positions in two other Japanese funds - the CF Morant Wright Japan and Melchior Japan Opportunities funds.

"It strikes us Japan has turned from a story where it's pretty cheap to where it's really got economic growth. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has increased its economic growth forecast for Japan and is forecasting a modicum of inflation," he said. "You've had big asset allocators throwing money at Japan and the index has been very strong as that's the first thing they buy."

Elsewhere, Mr Chatfeild-Roberts remains upbeat on prospects for equities, despite a weak environment for the retail sector in Britain.

Over the past three years, Jupiter Merlin Worldwide has risen by 76 per cent, beating an average 45 per cent gain among funds in the Global Growth sector and a 35 per cent rise in the FTSE World index.

America is the market favoured by Mark Urquhart, manager of the £150 million Edinburgh Worldwide investment trust, one of the star performers in the Overseas Growth sector.

Mr Urquhart, who works for Edinburgh investment house Baillie Gifford, believes he has spotted some excellent opportunities in the US after reporting an excellent set of results.

Over the year to October the trust saw its NAV (net asset value) rise 29 per cent, well ahead of the 16 per cent gain in the Morgan Stanley Countries Index (MSCI) All Countries World index in sterling terms. The trust's share price jumped 44 per cent as its discount to NAV narrowed. During the year Mr Urquhart, who runs a low-turnover portfolio of around 40 stocks using a bottom-up approach, bought a position in an Indian mortgage bank and purchased seven stocks in the US.

He said: "Currently we find opportunities among companies listed in the US, including some internet companies that are now well established - Amazon and Ebay for example - as well as a number of well-run businesses that have gained leads in their own fields, such as Whole Foods Market or SCP Pool."

As happens with well-supported trusts, its discount to NAV has narrowed below the sector average. It stands at 6 per cent compared with its average 13 per cent discount over the past year and an average current five per cent discount among trusts in the Overseas Growth sector.

It is not often that managers shift from one asset sector to another that is completely unrelated.

Denis Clough has done just that - a former Japan star manager, he now runs the Schroder European fund. Since Mr Clough assumed control of the fund at the start of October, he has reduced the number of stocks from 72 to 67 and aims to cut that number to between 55 and 60.

He has decreased his exposure to the energy sector from an overweight 10 per cent to a neutral 7.5 per cent on the back of a strong year, which he feels is reflected in share prices.

Looking to 2006, Mr Clough claims equity valuations look reasonable compared with bonds and reckons there is more value to be found in larger-cap stocks than smaller-caps. However, he thinks profit growth in Europe is likely to slow. He said: "Profits have recovered from cyclical lows and now it is harder for them to grow as rapidly as in previous years."

From a wider perspective, Mr Clough does not think the recent increase in European Central Bank (ECB) interest rates to 2.25 per cent will stifle growth in Europe and he does not expect the ECB to embark on a rate hiking campaign.

"Are higher oil prices feeding into more broadly based prices? The answer is no," he said. He forecast Eurozone real growth in 2005 will be 1.3 per cent before accelerating to 1.6 per cent in 2006.

Since Rob Burnett took over the Neptune European Opportunities fund in May, he has changed more than 80 per cent of the fund.

His most interesting bet is an 18 per cent weighting in Greece - a market few other managers venture into. Mr Burnett has been attracted to under-researched Greek mid- caps, which he says can be picked up for a song.

Now large broking houses such as UBS have begun to produce more in-depth coverage of the Greek market and are prompting re-ratings of the type of stocks he holds.

However, such rewards do not come without risks and Mr Burnett admits some caution is needed. "Corporate governance in the past has not been great," he said.